Page 85 - JCAU-6-4

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Village spatial form and activation

technology and spatial syntax to quantitatively analyze the characteristics and overall form, clearly displaying
spatial features of Biasha Miao village, a traditional village the spatial positions and geometric structures of each
in Guizhou, China. The study aims to summarize the residential building. This method offers a more refined and
interrelatedness of spatial patterns, analyze the influencing three-dimensional approach compared to conventional
factors and formation mechanisms, and explore methods remote sensing images. On this basis, digital spatial analysis
for recognizing and protecting the spatial patterns of was conducted to examine the spatial characteristics of
traditional villages. This study provides planning and Biasha Miao village, focusing on aspects such as spatial
design strategies for the morphological transformation of texture, architectural style, open spaces, street and alley
Biasha Miao village, contributing to the broader theories spatial layouts, and spatial scale.
on the spatial patterns and revitalization strategies of
traditional villages in China. 2.3. Space syntax

The innovations of this study include: (i) Using modern This study employed convex space analysis, axis diagram
spatial information technology to interpret traditional analysis, and viewable analysis within the space syntax
villages and architectural space, conducting comprehensive model to evaluate intelligibility, connectivity, average
analyses to clarify the traditional and regional characteristics depth, integration, and visual integration across three
of these spaces; (ii) examining typical traditional villages spatial aspects: the village’s overall space, street space,
to identify spatial morphology issues, proposing specific and public activity space (Wang, 2013). This approach
solutions, and abstracting these findings into general spatial helps identify the advantages and disadvantages of the
models and their evolution. This approach provides a clear village’s spatial form, leading to further proposes for
and effective methodology and strategy for the inheritance, reconstruction, innovation, and improvement strategies of
development, and design of traditional villages, as well as spatial structures to realize sustainable self-organization of
for the updating and redesign of regional settlement and the traditional village.
architectural spatial morphology. First, spatial axis maps of different villages within
Biasha Miao village were imported into DepthMap
2. Overview of the study area and research software to calculate the global and local integration
methods degrees at various radii. This step transformed the analysis
2.1. Overview of the study area of the overall spatial layout of the four villages into an
evaluation of global and local integration at different
Biasha Miao village is located in the southwest of radius values. Higher integration values indicate stronger
Congjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong accessibility within the village. In this study, the local
Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou province (Figure 1). integration R-value was set to 3 (Wu, 2018), reflecting
This region features high altitudes, mountainous terrain, the spatial scale most relevant to human walking within
abundant natural resources, well-preserved ecological a three-step range. To further analyze the inherent fabric
environments, and a humid subtropical monsoon climate. patterns of traditional villages with different forms, the
Biasha Miao village is situated on a ridge, with its layout intelligibility value was used to describe the similarities
descending along the contour lines. This village follows and differences in these patterns. A low intelligibility
a central radiation layout and is surrounded by extensive value indicates that local spaces are poorly connected
feng shui and bamboo forests, contributing to its favorable to the overall village space. The intelligibility of village
ecological landscape. The primary cultivated land in the spatial structure, expressed as R² (fit degree), was assessed
village consists of terraced rice fields that rely on rainwater by plotting the correlation between global integration and
and mountain spring irrigation (Su & Sun, 2017). This R3 local integration values. Second, the street space was
study mainly focuses on four villages within the area: quantitatively analyzed using connection value, average
Da village, Zaige new village, Darongpo new village, and depth, and integration value (Gan & Gu, 2017; Zhou,
Wangjia village, covering a total area of 360 ha. 2020). In space syntax, the connection value indicates how
well an element is linked to other elements in the spatial
2.2. Analysis of digital spatial features of villages system; higher values suggest better connectivity. Colder
based on aerial images
color on the analysis maps corresponds to lower depth
In this study, drone aerial photography was used to values and higher accessibility. A greater integration value
collect three-dimensional spatial data of the natural and signifies a higher degree of integration between people
human-made environment of Biasha Miao village and and traffic, reflecting a core position within the village’s
its surrounding areas. This approach provided a detailed overall space. Generally speaking, global integration can
representation of the village’s natural geographical be used to represent the core locations of streets and

Volume 6 Issue 4 (2024) 3 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.2502